The necessity of tradition and symbols
On the afternoon of September 8, I flew into Washington, DC for two days of personal activities, the bonus being that I was able to spend the evening with a Macedonian friend celebrating Macedonia’s independence.
As soon as I switched my phone off from airplane mode, however, I received news from a Macedonian friend that Queen Elizabeth II had passed on. It was a bit of a shock, having seen the news earlier that day that she was under medical supervision. I had expected worsening news but not the worst news.
I am an Anglophile. I actually grew up (first three years of my life) in the United Kingdom (though I was born in Arizona) as my father, during the Vietnam War, was stationed at Lakenheath Royal Air Force Base outside of London. I have returned many times since, to visit, and, being a student of history, I know that the history of my country, the United States of America, is intertwined in many ways with the history of the United Kingdom. I am grateful for the many traditions, laws, and customs (not to mention language) bequeathed us from our British cousins.
Let me also address the proverbial elephant in this article: I know that some Macedonians do not like the United Kingdom, the British monarchy, or the late Queen. That is their right, though I believe they are quite wrong, for reasons I will not address in this column. For those who revile the Queen remember and consider this: she was a mother, a grandmother, and a great-grandmother and her family mourns her. Having lost my own mother in July to a long battle with Alzheimer’s, I know what it is like to lose a mother and it is painful. The Queen did choose to be Queen and exhibited, through her long life, duty, sacrifice, and honor all the while showing humility and a healthy dose of self-deprecation.
Having gotten that out of the way, and as an American conservative, I can make the case for the continuance of the British monarchy, which is rooted in tradition and symbolism. While I prefer our own system and framework of government, a republic, I admire the British system of government – a monarch as head of state, a prime minister as head of government, and a parliament accountable to the people – because it works for the British people, and it is rooted in history. And it is extremely popular among the British people and many in the Commonwealth.
The tradition of the British monarchy goes back more than 1,000 years. If you define tradition by something that has lasted a very long time, it’s hard to find something else that old that is still practiced today. The British monarchy is a line, a thread if you like, that unites the many facets of British history together and brings us to this current moment.
Queen Elizabeth was – and remains – a symbol of the United Kingdom. Her visage appears on stamps, banknotes, and much more around the country and throughout the Commonwealth though all of that will change now that Charles III is King. And symbols, like tradition, are vital to a people, to a nation. Take those away and you take away a little part of the people, and the nation. Macedonians know this to be painfully true. (Here is an excellent article, written by an Englishman of the Orthodox faith, on that very issue).
(Related to the current events surrounding her passing I watched numerous church services during the days of official mourning of Her Majesty and one thing became very apparent – the various bishops, other members of the church clergy, and others pronounced the name of God and belief in God and His Son Jesus Christ because that is precisely what the Queen believed and what the Church of England teaches and preaches. And I thought: this is amazing – the name of God is being proclaimed throughout the world – even television presenters are talking about Jesus! As an Orthodox Christian, I believe that all Christians around the world – Orthodox, Protestant, Catholic, and non-denominational should rejoice in this).
So, tradition is necessary, I would say, vital, to the proper ordering and functioning of a society, any society. If you think tradition unimportant, then I invite you to examine the French Revolution; those revolutionaries decided that all French traditions – starting with the monarchy and the Church, should be burned to the ground. They even changed their own calendar. And what did they get for their troubles? Death, misery, and Napoleon, who, in his own way and with his own wars, created more death and misery. Like Robespierre and his French Revolutionaries, Macedonia’s so-called “colorful revolutionaries” also sought to tear it all down and start anew. And what do you have today in Macedonia as a result of their work?
Again, tradition is necessary, vital, to the proper ordering and functioning of a society, and Macedonians have many traditions, starting, in my opinion, with the Macedonian Orthodox Church. And there are many more traditions in Macedonia: Macedonia’s history contains heroes, events, songs, poetry, literature, and culinary traditions that attest to who Macedonians are and what Macedonia is. You can name your own Macedonian traditions, but it is a fact that all of these traditions are vital to the existence of Macedonia as a nation, and Macedonians as a people.
Continue your traditions and symbols. Teach them to your children and your grandchildren so that they can be passed on to children yet to be born. Cherish the traditions and symbols you have and reclaim the ones that have been temporarily taken away from you. You can do it. You must do it.